Adjustable scaffold-support



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

J. RIGHSTIN'E.

ADJUSTABLE 'SOAFPOLD SUPPORT. No. 371,279.

"WE/Iron if, WM

' ATTORNEY.

(No Model.) 3 SheetsSheet 2.

v J. RICHSTINE.

ADJUSTABLE SGAFFOLD SUPPORT.

No. 371,279. Patented Oct. 11, 1887..

WITNESSES: W IIVVE/VTOR wZ-JzZww/W ATTORNEY.

N. PEIERS. Fhnwuxhn n hu, Waihingmn. D c.

3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

(No Model.)

J. RIGHSTINE. ADJUSTABLE SCAPFOLD SUPPORT.

Patented Oct. 11, 1887'.

ATTORNH.

WITNESSES.

UNITED STATES PATENT O FICE.

JOHN RIOHSTINE, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.

ADJUSTABLE SCAFl-OLD-SU PPO RT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 371,279, dated October11 1887.

Application filed January 6, 1887. Serial X0. 223,542. (No model.)

To aZZ whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN RIOHsTINE,of Kansas City, Jackson county,Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inAdjustable Scafi'oldSupports, of which the following is a full, clear,and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,forming a part hereof.

The object of my invention is to provide a ready-built adjustablescaffold for the use of plasterers, paper -hangers, calciminers, andpainters that will be strong, rigid, durable, and convenient for use.

The invention may be said to consist in the devices and the combinationand arrangement of devices hereinafter set forth, and pointed out in theclaims.

In the drawings,which illustrate the manner of carrying out myinvention, Figure 1 is a perspective view of one of my improved supportsin tripodal form. Fig. 2 is a like view of a two-legged support. Fig. 3isa section through the cross-bar used in the two-legged support onlongitudinal line 00 x, and Fig. 3" is a plan view of the under side ofsaid bar. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the under side of the cross-bar usedin the tripodal support. Fig. 5 is a detail view of the upper side ofthe crossbar used in the two-1egged support, and showing the manner ofadjustably attaching the braces thereto. Fig. 6 is a transverse sectionthrough the last-mentioned cross-bar at apoint where a brace isattached. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of one of my supports with theselfclamping bracket attached thereto. Fig. Sis a detail view of thelower end of a metallic section. Fig. 9 is a detail view showing themanner of securing the bracket to thelegsection. Fig. 10 is a'view ofthe under side of the cross-bar used in the tripodal support, showing avariation in the clamp-operating devices therefor. Fig. 11 is a detailview of a clamp having a gear-wheel located on its shank. Fig. 12 isaview of the under side of across-bar for the two-legged. support,showing a variation in the clamp-operating devices therefor, and Fig. 13is a perspective view of a key for such devices.

At the beginning of this description I will say that the tripodal orthree-legged form of support may be used as a complete trestle itself,or two of them may be employed to form a trestle, as may be desired.\Vhen two are to be used, a block of wood, N, should be permanentlysecured upon the flat surface formed by the upper ends of the metalsections A, and a plank, E, of suitable dimensions should then belocated on the block of wood and extend from onesupport to the other.This plank I may term the ledger of the trestle so formed. In the caseof the two-legged form, however, it is necessary that a pair of supportsbe used in all instances, as it is evident that a single one would notstand alone. The standards of each style of support are composed of anupper section, A, made of angleiron that is L-shaped or rectangular incross section, and a lower section, B, of wood, which is preferablyrectangular in cross-section, as shown, and one corner whereof engagesthe inner surface of said upper section. I provide a flat surface at theupper portion of the upper sections, which may be engaged by either theblock N or the ledger E, by flattening out the angle-iron at that point.In Fig. 2 the upper section or sections are formed of a single piece ofiron flattened at about the middle of its length and then bent to aboutthe angle assumed by the legs of an ordinary trestle; but in theconstruction shown in Fig. 1 three separate pieces of angleiron areemployed in making up the upper sections-of the support. The upper endsof said sections are flattened and secured together by means of belts orrivets, or in any suitable way.

For holding the standard-sections at any desired point of adjustment Ilocate clamps D in or upon the cross-bar O. The head portions of theclamps are so made as to encircle both of the overlappingstandard-sections, as shown. Said clamps consist of a rectangular hoopof iron or other metal, and having a shank of suitable length to reachthe point on the cross-bar G where the clamp-operating devices arelocated, secured thereto and extending from one side thereof. The shankson the clamps should be formed integral with their head portion, asindicated. Of course, in the tripod-a1 arrangement before mentioned, thecross-bar G is provided with three arms and with a clamp for each arm.

Different devices may be used for causing the clamps D to press thesections B firmly against the sections A in adjusting the standards; andI do not desire to limit myself to any special form of clamp-operatingmechanism. The arrangement shown in Figs. 3 and 4 is the one I prefer tomake use of, and in the two-legged support it may be described asfollows: The shank of one clamp is secured to center plate, a, in anydesired way, and the other clamp (only two are used in this arrangement)has the inner end of its shank threaded and passed through an aperturein said plate, and a hand wheel or nut, l, is located on the threadedend of the last-mentioned shank. The center plate, a, is loosely securedupon the under side of the crossbar, so that it can move longitudinallythereon, by means of slots b and screws which pass through the slotsinto the bar.

When it is desired to tighten the standards in place after they havebeen adjusted, the hand-wheel l is revolved inthe proper direction, andit thereby presses against the shoulder 2, which is raised from thesurface of the plate a, and draws inwardly the shank upon which it ismounted, and as it also presses against the said shoulder on the platethe plate will also be moved inwardly or longitudinally and the othershank, which is secured to the said plate, will also be drawn inwardly,thereby causing both standards of the support to be gripped by theirrespective clamping-bars simultaneously and to be locked in position.

In the arrangement of cross-bar for the tripodal form of support (shownin Fig. 4 more clearly) three clamps are used, and two of their shanksare provided with screw-threads and nuts, whereby they are secured tothe center plate, while the remaining one carries the hand-wheel, asbefore described. The operation of this latter arrangement is much thesame as the other, except that the two shanks having threads and nutsare located at an angle to each other, and will therefore be drawn alittle to one side by the-action of the handwheel during the tightening.operation, which is not a detriment, as I have found that satisfactoryresults are obtained by its use. The metallic upper sections, A, can bemade of iron that is semitubular or segmental in cross section. In fact,the style of iron used may be of any desired cross section that willanswer the purpose. It will be observed that the clamps are located atan angle to the body of the cross-bars-in other words, they are inclineddownwardly from their head portionsto their inner ends-and that saidshanks extend from the standards at a right angle thereto, therebypermitting the heads of the clamps to grip said standards squarely.

In the modifications of cross-bar and clamping devices shown in Fig. 10the inner end of the shanks of three clamps are threaded, as beforedescribed, and a small gear-wheel, K, is also threaded and one of themis mounted on the threaded end of each shank,and another U gear, 10,having a rectangular aperture in its body, is mounted in a recess, H, inthe bar and engages each of the other gears, as shown.

The letter at indicates the aperture in the gearwheel 10. The operationof this arrangement is as follows: When gear 10 is turned in any desireddirection, each of the gears K will be revolved on its shank and theclamps D will be loosened or tightened, as the case may be. A suitablekey or wrench, V, having a square end forvengaging aperture d ingear-wheel 10, is employed to turn said gear-wheel.

The action of the clamping devices shown in Fig. 12 is substantially thesame as that just described, with the exception that only two clamps areemployed in it. For the purpose of making the contact between the upperand lower standard-sections more secure, I turn the edge of the metal ofwhich the sectionsAare constructed inwardly at the lower end, so as toform a bead or projection, 18, as shown more clearly in Fig. 8. Theaction of this bead orprojection is to hold the section B at a littledistance from the section A when the clamp is loose, and to sink intothe surface of section B, and thereby make a securer joint, when theclamp is tightened up. If desired, I may accomplish the same result bysecuring a small strip or strips of metal to the end of section A bymeans of solder or rivets, to form said head or projection. The plank orledger E is to be secured or located directly on the Hat surface at theupper end of the two-legged supports shown in Figs. 2 and 7, audit maybe secured in place by means of thumb-screw 12, or other device, whichis passed through an aperture, 11, in said flat surface and into saidledger.

In some cases it may be desirable to locate the ledger E quite low downupon the supporisin fact, lower down than it can be made to go byshortening up the standard. To permit this I provide a self-clampingbracket, F, and locateit on the upper section, A, as shown. Theconstruction and action of this bracket are as follows: It is made of anintegral piece of metal and has prongs 13 formed on one end, whichengage opposite edges of the section to which it is attached, and theend opposite the prongs isturned upwardly, so as to form a flange orguard for preventing the ledger from slipping off the bracket. \Vhenweight is placed upon the bracket, its free end is some what depressedthereby, while the prongs or hooks 13 remain stationary and grip theedges of the standard-section, thereby exerting sufficient pressure atthe points of contact to frictionally support the said bracket and theWeight that is imposed upon it. If desired, the thumb-screw 12 may bepassed through an aperture in the body of said bracket and screwed intothe under side of ledger E, to more securely hold said ledger in place,as shown.

In the case of the two-legged support it will be necessary to provide abrace or braces, such as a ad, to hold the supports in proper relationto the ledger and to each other. This I do, as shown. The upper ends ofsaid braces can be fastened to the ledger in any desired way; but inorder tosecure them as quickly as possible, (which is to be desired inuse,) and at the same time to do it securely, I locate a spike, Z, atthe upper end of the braces, which is pointed and can be driven into theunder side of the ledger with a few blows from a hammer, and which canin a like manner be easily detached therefrom. The spike Z is perforatedfor the passage of thebrace-rod through its body, and the ends of saidrods are then bent toward each other, as shown, and a hook or eye isformed on each end.

A pair of hook-bolts, d, are provided with screw-thread and nut, and arepassed through the cross-bar 0, so that their heads will project somedistance beyond the inner side of said bar, and the hooks or eyes on theends ofthe braces a a are made to engage the hooks of the bolts 01. Toprevent the end of the brace or braces from wearing into the surface ofthe cross-bar during use, I provide small metal plates 15 and locatethem on the said hook-bolts between the cross-bar and the ends of thebraces. In use the upper ends of the supports will be almostcontinuously vibrated, and considerable strain will be thrown on thebraces, and the bearingsnr-faces between the ends of said braces and thehook-bolts (1 will gradually wear away. To take up this wear and to keepthe braces tight at all times it will only be necessary to tighten thenuts on the outer ends of said hookbolts from time to time, therebydrawing the ends of the braces firmly against the metal plates 15.

It should be clear that great strength will be embraced in my system ofscaffold-supports when the weight of material used is taken intoconsideration.

2. A scaffold-support provided with extensible standards, the uppersliding sections of said standards being formed of material L or Ushaped in cross-section and adapted to engage with the lower slidingsections, said L or U shaped sections having their upper ends joined andflattened, whereby a flat surface is formed on whicha ledger or plank isadapted to rest, substantially as described.

3. In combination with the standards made in sections, one or morecross-bars connected to one of said sections, clamps carried by saidcross-bars and provided with shanks projecting from one side thereof,and devices secured to the inner ends of said'shanks for forcing themtoward or from a common center, for the purpose and in the mannersubstantially as described.

4. In a scaffold-support provided with extensible standards made insections, one or more cross-bars secured to one of said sections,

in' combination with the clamps carried by said crossbars, each clampbeing provided with a shank, one of which is provided with ascrew-threaded end and suitable nut, said screw-threaded end looselypassing through a movable plate located on said cross-bars and theremaining shanks being secured to said plate, all adapted to operatesubstantially as described.

5. The combination, with ledgerEand supporting-legs, of a braceconnected at its lower end to said standards or to a cross-bar locatedbetween the standards, and a spike carried by the upper end of saidbrace to be driven into the under side of. said ledger, as and for thepurpose specified.

6. In combination with the standards or cross-bars of a scaffold-supportor trestle, a brace carrying a hook or eye on its lower end. a hook-boltprovided with screw thread and nut, and a metal plate located on saidbolt between the cross-bar or standard and the end of said brace, as andfor the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I afliX my signature in presence .of two witnesses.

JOHN RIOHSTINE.

Witnesses:

O. A. KENYON, A. E. BURGESS.

